For years the food supplement industry and sports drink industry (commonly soda drink manufacturers) hereinafter collectively referred to as the “nutrition industry” have produced and marketed fluidic products that are packaged in a manner that is ready to drink (RTD). Such RTD products are predominately available in single serving size containers and such containers are typically formed of plastic or metal.
The nutrition industry also encompasses the production, packaging and distribution of a wide variety of powdered nutritional products that may be added to liquids such as, but not limited to, water, milk and juices. Powdered nutritional products include, but are not limited to, items such as baby formula, dietary supplements, sports drinks, vitamin additives and flavor additives.
The nutrition industry has discovered the manufacture and sale of nutritional products in powdered form is more economical that RTD products. Powdered products are easier and less costly to package and ship because powdered products weigh less and have less volume. Powdered products are dry and are generally not subject to spoilage with age. Further, powdered products encourage use of re-usable bottles and containers which has the added benefit of reducing the consumption of disposable plastic and metal containers allowing manufacturers to promote their product as “being green” and environmentally sensitive while increasing profit margins by reducing costs. Further still, powdered products allow consumers more freedom than would otherwise be available because a powered product can be easily transported and the drink may be made when needed. For example, parents with infants might be prevented from traveling if there was no ability to make infant formula during lengthy periods of travel on an airplane because refrigeration may not be available and because transport and storage of liquids may be problematic or even prohibited by aviation security regulations.
The nutrition industry has responded to these needs by producing single serving size “tubes” of powdered mixes that are easily transportable. Unfortunately, such “tubes” and single size serving packaging have increased pollution of paper and plastic products, encouraged the use of single serving size bottles of water and prevented end-consumers from adjusting the concentration of the product added to a quantity of liquid to adjust for taste. My dispensing scoop with gate valve resolves various of these continuing drawbacks and problems by providing end-consumers with the ability to adjust for taste and reducing the need for single use containers.
Various types of packaging and containers are used in the powdered nutritional product industry, including but not limited to, waxed cardboard containers, plastic jugs, metal containers and “tubs” of various sizes. Typically such containers carry a bulk quantity of product, which may be accessed through a large opening orifice, generally in a top portion of the container. Because the products are commonly sold in bulk quantities, the opening orifice in the container typically has a removable and re-sealable top and is large enough for a user to insert at least a portion of his/her hand into the container while gripping a tool, such as a spoon or scoop for gathering a quantity of the product and for transferring the product to an end-use container, such as a baby bottle or a water bottle.
If a spoon, such as a teaspoon or tablespoon, is used to gather product from the container and transfer the product to an end-use container, it is difficult to consistently gather and thereafter dispense a consistent quantity of the product because the product is typically “heaped” upon the spoon. This can be a significant issue when calorie control is important. Although a spoon defines a generally concave depression, a spoon generally does not have sufficiently tall perimeter walls surrounding the concave depression to prevent some portion of the product from “sloughing off” the edges of the spoon. As a result, when using a spoon, it is difficult to control the quantity of the product being gathered and thereafter dispensed. Further, although spoons are typically tapered at a “nose end” portion opposite a handle, spoons do not readily facilitate depositing the product into any end-use container that has an opening orifice smaller than a side-to-side dimension of the spoon. The result is that some portion of the product falls outside the opening orifice to the end-use container, causing a mess and waste of the product. This problem may be even greater if the person using the spoon does not have sufficient hand coordination and dexterity, for instance young children.
One alternative to the use of spoons for gathering, and thereafter dispensing such products, has been to include a scoop within the original packaging of the product and the scoop or spoon may be configured and sized for gathering a specified quantity of the product for addition to a predetermined quantity of liquid, for instance one scoop of product per 12 ounces of water. Scoops make gathering and dispensing a consistent quantity of the product easier, but scoops also have continuing drawbacks. Scoops typically have small short handles that require a user to insert his/her entire hand into the product container to gather the product. In addition, it is often difficult to fill and difficult to empty the material from the scoop. These drawbacks are exacerbated by the structure of known scoops and by the fact that many powdered nutritional products, such as infant formula, are a very fine powdered particulate.
Scoops formed by injection molding and vacuum forming have generally planer bottom portions and integrally connected side walls, defining an air tight volume. Such air tight volumes allow air pockets to form within the scoop as the product is being scooped up. Such air pockets prevent the scoop from filling completely with the powdered product. If the scoop does not fill completely, the amount of product being gathered and thereafter deposited into an end-use container such as a baby bottle is not adequate to create the desired/intended nutritional concentration. Another drawback to air tight scoops occurs when the scoop is completely filled with product. A vacuum may form within the volume, causing the product contained within the volume to not “release” for depositing into the end-use container such as a baby bottle without agitation to release the vacuum. Further, and similar to the use of tableware spoons, after the scoop is filled with a quantity of product, the scoop needs to be inverted over the opening orifice of the end-use container to empty the product. Inversion of the scoop frequently leads to spillage of the product, and in many instances the scoop will have an opening orifice that is larger than the opening orifice of the end-use container which leads to the same problem experienced with spoons, the powdered material falling on the outside of the end-use container rather than passing through the opening orifice and into the end-use container. Again, the end result is inconsistent quantities of the powdered nutritional material being added to the end-use container and difficulty gathering and dispensing the powdered material. Finally, many known scoops have a generally planer handle that extends radially from an upper edge portion of the scoop volume. The planer handle adjacent the scoop volume has a tendency to collect an amount of the product being scooped up thereon and unless this “build up” is manually “brushed away” there is additional spoilage when the scoop is inverted for emptying.
Admittedly scoops have resolved some of the problems encountered by users of powdered nutritional products. However, scoops have not solved all of the problems associated with consistently gathering and dispensing consistent quantities of powdered nutritional supplements into end-use containers that have opening orifices smaller than the diameter of a spoon or scoop. Therefore, there remains a need for a device which resolves these continuing needs.
My gathering and dispensing scoop with gate valve resolves various of the continuing problems associated with gathering and dispensing consistent quantities of powdered and finely particulated products into end-use containers. My invention has a scoop body defining a volume, an agitating gate valve, and a handle extending radially from the scoop body. The volume is not air-tight so that air pockets do not form within the volume while product is being gathered and to prevent a vacuum which might prevent product from dispensing from the volume. The agitating gate valve breaks surface tension that may form in powdered products to encourage the product to “release” from the volume for dispensing. My gathering and dispensing scoop with gate valve need not be inverted to dispense product into an end-use container because the agitating gate valve optionally opens and closes an orifice defined in a bottom of the scoop body so that the product within the volume may be deposited into an end-use container.
A dispensing chute may be attached to a bottom portion of the scoop body and the chute may have peripheral walls that taper inwardly, and may further include steps defined therein for frictional engagement with a rim of an opening orifice of a end-use container so that the dispensing chute may be accurately and consistently placed upon the end-use container for depositing product therein without spillage even by persons lacking hand coordination and dexterity such as young children. Inner surfaces of the dispensing chute are linear and smooth, without steps or ridges, so that product within the volume slides therealong and thereacross for passage into the end-use container.
The agitating gate valve is moveable and is manipulated by a user to open and close the gate valve as desired. The structure of my gathering and dispensing scoop with gate valve allows single-hand (left or right) and single-finger use which is of paramount, importance, especially for parents who may be attempting to make a bottle of infant formula while holding an infant in their arms.
Some or all of the problems explained above, and other problems, may be helped or solved by my invention shown and described herein. My invention may also be used to address other problems not set out herein or which become apparent at a later time. The future may also bring to light unknown benefits which may be in the future appreciated from the novel invention shown and described herein.